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A pan-European commitment for greater regulation of financial markets masks deep divisions between the leaders of the continent's biggest economies, it has been claimed.

Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi held talks in Berlin this weekend, agreeing on Sunday to step up regulation to protect against future recessions.

UK prime minister Mr Brown hailed progress on the "global new deal" he has been working towards, but conflicting statements over the supposed 'one-mind' of the European leaders have emerged.

Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters on the plane home from Sunday's talks: "If I put it very tenderly, the divergence in opinions was rather big.

"It was obvious that the four countries representing the EU in the G20 do not have the same opinion on a number of issues," he is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

"Our responsibility [as holders of the presidency] is to look for some unity. This won't be easy at all."

The Berlin talks were the latest precursor meeting ahead of the G20 London Summit at the beginning of April.

Mr Brown is also due to hold talks with Barack Obama in the US next week.